David Gregory

Meet the Press 2008–2014

David Gregory is an American television journalist and the former
moderator of NBC News' Sunday morning talk show Meet the Press.

Gregory was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Carolyn
Surtees, an account manager, and Don Gregory originally Don Ginsburg, a
film and theatrical producer. Gregory was born to a Jewish
father and a
non-Jewish mother; he was raised Jewish, and is a practicing Jew today.
Gregory graduated from American University in 1992. While there, he
worked for the campus television station, ATV - American
University
Television, and received a degree in International Studies from the
School of International Service. Gregory was named the School of
International Service's alumnus of the year in 2005 and sits on the
Dean's
Advisory Council.

Career

Gregory began his career at the age of 18 as a summer reporter for
KGUN-TV in Tucson, Arizona. Gregory also worked for NBC’s local West
Coast affiliate KCRA-TV in
Sacramento, California.

Gregory had been the substitute co-anchor
of Weekend Today, filling in for Lester Holt on that program from 2003 to 2014. He filled in for Matt Lauer on
Today from 2005 to 2014. Gregory was also the
anchor of News Chat,
Crosstalk NBC, and Newsfront on MSNBC from 1998 to 2000.

Gregory has also filled in on NBC News Weekend Nightly News and NBC Nightly News from 2005 to 2014.

Gregory also filled the Imus in the Morning time slot on
MSNBC after the Don Imus controversy involving the Rutgers University basketball team while MSNBC searched for a permanent host. He served as a guest host in the morning time slot for MSNBC (while also being simulcast on WFAN) for one week in May. The morning radio program was known as Gregory Live.

From March 17, 2008, through December 5, 2008, Gregory hosted a show
on MSNBC weekday evenings, which replaced Tucker Carlson's Tucker. The
show was called Race for the White House until the conclusion of the
2008 U.S. Presidential election. From November 5, 2008, forward the show
became known as 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Gregory was replaced by David Shuster, who was named as the new host for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue starting with the December 15, 2008 show.

Due to internal fighting among the staff at
MSNBC, Gregory was
appointed as anchor on
MSNBC during the presidential debates and the
2008 election. On November 4–5, he teamed with Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson, Chris Matthews
and Keith Olbermann as commentators on the presidential election.

Gregory became the moderator of Meet the Press, beginning with the
December 14, 2008, episode when he was introduced by interim moderator
Tom Brokaw. The ratings fell, and he was replaced in 2014.

During Gregory's tenure at Meet the Press, the show's ratings
fell to
their lowest in 21 years and it regularly placed third among Sunday
morning news shows. The Washington Post reported that NBC hired a
"psychological consultant" to assess Mr. Gregory. NBC did not deny this,
saying it had hired a "brand consultant" to evaluate how
Gregory
connected with the audience. On August 14, 2014, NBC announced Gregory
would leave the parent
network, with his hosting duties assumed by
Chuck
Todd. The New York Post reported NBC had paid Gregory $4 million to
leave the network, and he had signed a non-disparagement clause.On
August 17, 2014, Andrea Mitchell hosted Meet the Press, and paid brief
tribute to Gregory's career at NBC, saying, "In 20 years with NBC News,
David has done it all.... Through all the years, David has been true to
the traditions of this program and NBC News.

NRA

On the December 23, 2012, broadcast of Meet the Press with National
Rifle Association chief executive Wayne LaPierre,
Gregory displayed what he identified as "a magazine for ammunition that
carries 30 bullets". NBC
had
requested permission from the Metropolitan Police Department to include a
high-capacity magazine in the segment and were denied.[33][34] Gregory displayed the magazine on the show, with media reports noting D.C. Code 7-2506.01(b) prohibits the possession of magazines with a capacity in excess of "10 rounds of ammunition."

Edward Snowden

On June 23, 2013, David Gregory posed a question to journalist Glenn
Greenwald that the
Washington
Post described as a gotcha inquiry containing a
veiled accusation of
federal criminal wrongdoing, very much in the tradition of 'how long
have you been beating your wife'".
According to the Los Angeles Times, "Gregory’s question
disguised a
loaded assumption that Greenwald aided and abbetted NSA leaker Edward
Snowden before asking: Why shouldn’t you, Mr. Greenwald, be charged with
a crime? Greenwald responded vigorously in objection to the question.
The accusation itself became a news story.
The New York Times said, "If
you tease apart his inquiry, it suggests there might be something
criminal in reporting out important information from a controversial
source. The Poynter Institute wrote, "The obvious defense is that he was
merely asking a question that evinced a viewpoint advanced by U.S. Rep.
Peter King and Washington Post
columnist Marc Thiessen—that publishing
secrets is law-breaking. Opinion columnist Frank Rich called Gregory's
charges "preposterous," questioning Gregory's own journalistic
credentials and asking why he didn't also make similar accusations
against Washington Post reporter Barton Gellman, who also published
Snowden's leaks.